Skirt



S www. Y R MME EGEM BNET. www LwL ELE AAA M M 2 2 SHEETS- SHEET l Filed May 8, 1950 III.

R O m V m ATTORNEY Mde Louise Myers Also Known As Mae Louise Brun July 15, 1952 MAE LOUISE MYERS 2,602,931

ALso KNOWN As MAE LoulsE BRUNE SKIRT Y Filed May s, 195o 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 Mae Louise Myers Also Known As.

Mde Louise Brune INVENTOR" Patented July 15, 1952 SKIRT MaeLouise Myers, also known as `Mae Louisev Brun, Washington, D. C. l

ApplicationMa-y V8, 1950, Serial N'o. 160,778

7 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to ladies' skirts. It is well known that womens skirts,.particu larly those made of woolen fabrics andcertain synthetic fabrics, become bulgedlor ba'ggedfat the seat portion (sometimes called frump sprung in the trade) due to frequent sitting of lthe'wearer or sitting for long periods of time and that this bulging is objectionable and annoyingy to :the wearer as it renders the garment unsightly in that the shape of the garment, asoriginally idesigned or fitted, becomes'dstorted; andthisislso particularly with, so-called, straight-skirts rdesigned to produce a slenderizing f'appeazrance. Moreover, such straight skirts limit thestride of the wearer, when Walking, and, when athe wearer is in sitting position, they may rise or ride upwardly'and do not properly ,cover fthe knees of the wearer and donotallow'fease .of movement of the legs or give a graceful-effect.

The object of the present .inventionis '.totovercome the above drawbacks by `constructing fa skirt in a novel Way to give a straight. skirt effect but which may bemanpulated tolprevent such outward bulging or bagging zat' :the seat portion thereof, as above -mention'ed,fandrwill assure thatthe skirt will maintainiaslenderizing design, when the wearer is in astanding posture, while affording an abundance `of'leg room, when the wearer is walking, and'd'raping -withffullness down over the knees, when .the'wearergisisitting It is also an object of thepresentrinvention that a skirt be constructed, yas abovegenerally defined, in a practical and accep'tableymanner which has a'definite style or fashion appeal-land,

Afrom the standpoint of'workmanship, may bey tailored and produced reasonably as :compared with skirts of the conventional type. Y

These objects are attained broadly'byfdesigning a skirt garment that is divided .at its rear portion and provided withan underskirt;;petti coat or curtain, as part of :the garment, within and behind the divided area vand'arranged sofas to allow the fabric thereoff--at one: or both vsides of said divisionto beremoved from the -.seat area when the wearer isseated yet,at thel same time, will fully cover and clothe-the -wearerz-whilev in sitting or standing position. lA garmentaliaving such features of this invention, as jjust stated, is particularly desirable for Women-Who travel long distances upon trains for airplanes in an office or the like. I l

More specifically, the invention contemplates' a yunitary garment having an outer skirt andan inner skirt attachedA together'at their Awaist-V :bandfarea, the outer skirt being slitted" or f vided longitudinally of its length at therear thereof with the divided portions Voverlapping one another throughout their length andlcircumferentially of the garment for al considerable distance-that is, to say, for a distancesubstantially equal vtol the seat area-With .the outer or overlapping 4portion forming a flap unsecured at the waist-'band but being detachably secured along the upper portion of itslongitudinal `Inarginalu edge to the opposite portion lof the underlapped portion of the outer skirt, when the V gafrment is in normal and proper wearing position -onfits wearer. This construction allows the 'garment to be given the style-design desired, with the overlapping flap covering thel seat of 4the wearer. The inner skirt is formed to have greater fullness than the outer skirt, such as by the provision of pleats, so that, whenthe wearer is aboutto' assume a sitting position, theoverlapping flap may be unfastened yand draWnaway from the rear portion of the garment toward la -side ofthe wearer, thus exposing the underlapped -,.portioniof the outer skirt andsuch portion of the inner skirt as may appear, thef-ullness of the .inner skirt-giving an abundance of loose fullness :to the garment-yet fully clothing thefwearerfso that the fabric'of the outersrkirt will not rise `or'Iide upwardly when the wearer is in sitting I fromfthethighs of the wearer, when in sitting epositio-n, whereby eliminating the strainand tension from the fabric of the outer skirtfthat ,produces thefbagging or bulging of thefs'eat,` ortion. When in standing position, the liap v portion maybe fastened in position to give 'the its'normalfstyle effect.

Vspecific ation.

Inthe drawing'swhich illustrate one preferred Y embodiment of :the invention Vas at present'd vti(l ,or `are required to sit for longfperiods of time "the rearV overlapping c VzSedIH ,l Figure 1 isa-perspective view .illustrating a wearer -of .the .skirt' of the prsent ,invention `vlseated Von. a kcl'iaifr or stool and the'nranririn hich the skirtmay 'be manipulatd while lfits `wearerisinaseated'position;

sFigure -2 is. .a perspectiiie view of helfskirtjof .the invention viewed from the rear" ift side Like characters of reference mentioned in this' specification will indicate similar and like parts y throughout the several views of the drawings. It is to be understood that the objects, of the present invention, as above defined, may bev carried out in a garment which may be modifiedY in some details from that shown in the drawings,

4 with a vertically disposed inverted or inwardly facing box-pleat I6, of generous proportions as illustrated, extending from just above the seat portion of the skirt-preferably from the lower end of the placket I3-to the bottom edge of the skirt. This box-pleat I6 is held in its formation by the horizontal stitching IIa at its upper end,

as shown, but is not otherwise stitched-that is to say, that its folds are open longitudinally and open at their lower ends so as to give required fullness when the wearer is in a seated position,

` as shown in Figure 1.

which latter is by way of illustration of one specific construction of a skirt embodying the invention. These variations or modifications will be obvious and some of such vvariations will -be pointed out herein.

The garment of this invention is shown herein as comprising an outer skirt III' whose rear portion is divided throughout its length and an inner skirt II secured to a common waistband I2, thus forming a garment unit. The inner skirt portion is preferably (though not necessarily) of thinner or lighter-weight material than the outer skirt:

I0 and is closed at its rear portion except for a placket I3 provided at said rear portion (preferably at a side-rear portion as shown) and extending downwardly from, and including, the waistband for a desirable distance to or about a. pointjust above the seat portion of the garment, so as ,to allow the garment to be slipped on andoif length of the skirt and circumferentially of the garment for a distance substantially'that of the seat area. As shown, in Figs. 1, 4 and 6, underlapped portion a terminates at a line substantially coinciding with the adjacent edge of the placket I3 and is secured to the waist-band I2 together with the remainder of the skirt around to-the other edge of the placket I3, except for the'overlapped-portion b. The flap or portionrb forms a free flap. extending over and beyond the placket and having a conforming waist-band area-b1', and is detachably secured at or along theupper part of its longitudinal marginal edge b2 to the opposite underlying portion a by buttons I4 and button holes I5 thus holding the flap b across the seat area of the skirt, covering the placket I3 andthe division of the skirt and fully covering and-obscuring the inner skirt II'. The skirt, as just described, assumes its normal style eifectorr its? wearerwhen in standing position.

Of course, it is to be understood thatother closing means may be substituted for the buttonhole I5 and the button I4, and, if desired, they may extend downwardly ofthe length of they skirt" for such distance as maybe preferred vfor assuring the maintenance of the' overlapping portionb'in its overlapping position andat 'the same-time giving comfort in the wearing of the skirt: f

The rear portion of the inner skirt is-'fn'rnidf does notlre'duire thatthe seat flap b be fastened peach time thelwearer arises from sitting position, asiinmthecase of frequent rising and sitting, because' the flap b' will hang gracefully from the J'waist-band at fthe placket I3, as shown'in Fig. 3,

As shown particularly in Figures 1 and 4, it is preferred in some cases that the longitudinal edge a1 of the rear-portion a of the outer skirt extends vto the adjacent edge I3a of the placket I3 and to the `inner edge IIb of the adjacent fold of the box-pleat I6 and be secured thereto by a line of stitching II. The placket may be held closed by any suitable means, such as the zipper I8 illustrated. The placket portion of the waist-band I2 may be additionally secured together at the waistbandportion by separable hooks-and-eyes I9.

When the wearer is about to assume a sitting position, the fasteners I4 and I5 are unfastened allowing the seat flap portion b to hang, as shown in Fig. 3, or it may be folded back to one side where the button hole I5 may engage over a button 20 as shown in Fig. 1. As this flap b, is not attached to the inner skirt I I or to the waist-band, said portion b of the outer skirt may be drawn or brought to the side of the wearer so as not to be sat upon and, as the wearer assumes a sitting position, she will sit on the rear portion a and such portion of the inner skirt II as may be exposed, as shown in Fig. 1, the pleat I6 supplying side of the wearer and the wearer may sit entirely vonjthe. inner: skirt `II,which fully covers and clothes the wearer at all times. Consequently, to

.this end in some forms of the garment of this invention, the-stitching I1 may be eliminated. at

least from they placket I3 downwardly, without impairing the advantages of the garment, particularly when the fabric ofthe outer skirt is of heavy'materialsuch as heavy weight woolens.

Itis obvious that the skirt .will not develop a seat bulge when the divided lapping portions a and b of the outer skirt I0 are manipulated as described; and, even if only the flap b is moved Ato one side, as shown in Fig. 1, so as not to be lsat upon while the wearer is sitting, this bulging willlnot develop in the seat area of the underlap'ped'portion aY due to the' fullness provided in 'the' false or inner skirt or 'curtain II as strain is'relieved therefrom. Furthermore, since the j flap b formsjthe outer overlap at the seat of the 35': garment and it is always to be moved to one side "when thev wearer is seated, itwill present a smooth rear panel whenthe garment is normally adjusted for jwe'ar while the wearer is in standing pqsitO-nf y f-The construction of 'the skirt of this invention proper coverageA of the wearer being1 assuredby the inner skirt or curtain Hand the hanginglof Manifestly, a skirt constructed-*according toV f the" present inventionl allows the outer skirtt'o 'be designedlto have a very snug streamlined' ap- -pearance while at the same time, the widefinverted` pleat I6 in the inner curtain or ,skirt in -addition to the division of the outer skirt, will afford plenty of fullnesstov enable the wearer vto walk comfortably with full strides and to Vassume a sitting position with grace without'developing a baggy seat in the garment.

' It is within the purview of the present invention that the inner skirt Il maybe modiedto waist-band, as above described. --Also, the boxpleatlS may not be located in the inner skirt or curtain as illustrated, but may be deposed-in the rea-'r Vcenter of the skirt or at any other desirable place in the rear portion, or evenin lits front portion, so long as the required fullness provided thereby'will be lavailable when the wearer is in a sitting Vposition and, when the lapping flap` portions a and b are separated from their Anormal position as shown in Figures 2 and 6. It isalso within the purview of the invention that the box-pleat in the inner skirt or curtain ll may be extended to the Waist-band I2, although in practice it has been found that this is not necessary.

It is also within the contemplation of the use of this invention that the flap or overlap portion b need not, in all instances, be unfastened at lll-I5, when the wearer assumes a sitting position, particularly when two or more of such fasteners hold said ilap b in its overlapping position and extend for a short distance downwardly from the waist-band I 2 but which will still allow the iiaps a and bi to be separated at the seat portion downwardly and drawn to the sides of the wearer, or which will permit the same manipulation with only the flaps b, as may be desirable on some occasions.

Of course, it will be further understood that the inner and outer skirts may be of the same length or one may be shorter than the other depending upon the effect to be produced, according to the style of the garment, and that this skirt may form part of a dress.

The skirt made in accordance with the present invention has many advantages from a practical standpoint, as set forth above, and also has style characteristics, all of which have been favorably received by the purchasing public.

Having fully described the above invention and at least one means by which the same may be carried out, as well as several variations that may be employed, it is to be understood that other variations and modifications may be made from the specific structure shown and described and that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new is:

1. In a womans unitary garment, an outer skirt for encircling the wearer having a waistband and being divided lengthwise throughout its length at its back portion, rsaid divided back portions of said skirt lapping for a distance circumferentially of the skirt, an inner skirt of relatively lighter weight material than the outer skirt'- attached to Vsaid outer skirt atssaidiwaistiband portion and disposed within Athe outer skirt to encircle Ythe Wearer'-l and curtaining'the` openingin the'outer skirt when said divided portions vofY the outer skirt are separated', separable fastening means detachably holding lthe 'lapping portions ofthe outer skirtin overlapped position, when fastened, and, `when lunfastened, permitting theYV lapping portionstobe drawn from the rear 'of thelwearerto one side of the wearer while in sitting position and means :at said waist-band doffed. v .v

Y` 2. In a womans garment, askirt forencirclin'g the wearer having a Waist-band and beingdivided-lengthwise throughout its 'length lat the frear vportion thereof, saiddividedback portions Iof sai-dskirt providing lapping portions, a skirtlike 'curtain attached-feto the lwaist area of the 'skirt and disposed within the skirt at ythefrear portion permittingth'e garment to b'e'donnedf'and portion thereof to hang and `extenddownwardly Vbehindl the divided-portion andlaterally from-at least one side to the other side -of the skirt; separable fastening means detachably holding-the lapping portions of the skirtin/overlapped position, when fastened, and a lplacket in said curtain at the divided area of the skirt permitting the skirt to be donned and doifed.

3. In a womans unitary -garment,`fa skirt having a separable waist-'bandand being divided'fat its back portion throughoutl its length vand `form'- Aing overlapped portions in the area of .thegseat portion of the skirt, the overlapping outer Yportion being unattached to the waist-band of the skirt for providing a back panel ilap, separable fasteners for detachably maintaining the outer overlapping portion of the outer skirt in overlapped position, a skirt-like curtain attached to said waist-band on opposite sides of the separable portions of said waist-band and disposed adjacent to and behind said overlapped portions for substantially their length and at least from one side to the other side of the garment, an open pleat in said curtain extending longitudinally thereof, and a placket in said curtain extending from the separable portions of said waistband for a distance downwardly.

4. In a womans unitary garment, a skirt being divided in its back portion throughout its length, the divided portions forming overlapped portions in the area of the seat portion of the skirt, the overlapping outer portion being unattached to the waist-band area of the skirt for providing a back panel ap, separable fasteners for detachably maintaining the outer overlapping portion of the outer skirt in overlapped position, a curtain attached to said waist-band of the skirt and disposed adjacent to and behind said overlapped portions for substantially their length and at least from one side to the other side of the garment, a placket in said curtain disposed opposite the divided area of the outer skirt, and an open pleat in said curtain extending longitudinally from the lower end of said placket to the lower end of said curtain, the longitudinal edge of the underlying lapping portion being attached to the adjacent edge of said placket and to an adjacent fold of said pleat.

5. In a womans garment, an outer skirt and an inner skirt connected together at their waistband portion and substantially coinciding, said outer skirt being divided in its back portion throughout its length and forming lapping portions, the overlapping outer portion being unattached to the Waist-band area, separable ias-V tener means at the upper longitudinal marginal edge of the outer overlapping portion of the outer skirt and'at the contiguous underlying portion ofg inner lapping portions for detachably holding said lapping portions in overlapped position, and a placket in theinner skirt and waist.- bandv portion thereofjdisposed opposite the divided areaof the outer skirt. y y ..6.MA womans garment comprising an outer skirt and an inner skirt connected together at their waist-band portion and substantially coinciding, said outer skirt being divided in its back portion throughout its length and providing lapped portions throughout the length of the skirt and for a substantial width of the seat portionof the skirt, the overlapping outer portion being unsecured to the Awaist-band area of the skirt, a placket in the inner skirt extending for l.' distance downwardly from and through the waist-band portion and disposed at the longitudinal edge of the underlapped portion, an open pleat in the inner skirt extending from the lower end of the placket to the lower edge of the inner skirt, and separable fastener means for detachably holding the overlap portion in overlapped position with respect to the underlap portion of the outer skirt from its waist-band downwardly for a distance. p

V'7. A womans garment comprising an outer skirt and an innerskirt connected together at their waist-band portion and substantially coinciding, said outer skirt being divided in its back portion throughout its length and providing 8 lapped portions throughout the length of the skirt and for a substantial Width of the. seat portion of the skirt, the overlapped outer por- .tion being unsecured to the waist-band area of theskirt, a placket in the .inner skirt disposed at the longitudinal edge of the underlapped portion, an open pleat in the inner skirt extending .from the inner end of the placket to the lower edge of the inner skirt, the longitudinal edge ot the underlapped portion of the outer skirt being attached to the adjacent edge of said placket and to an adjacent fold of the pleat, and separable fastener means for detachably holding the overlap portion in overlapped position with respect to the underlap portion of its outer skirt from the Waist-band downwardly for a distance.

MAE LOUISE REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,834,331 Cameron Dec. l, 1931 1,941,959 Sumner Jan. 2, 1934 2,048,120 Greenbaum July 21, 1936 2,466,806 Harrison Apr. 12, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 229,113 Great Britain Feb. 19, 19x25 121,323 Switzerland July 1, 1927 

